Ionisation (Varèse)

Ionisation (1929 - 1931) is a musical composition by Edgard Varèse written for thirteen percussionists, the first concert hall composition for percussion ensemble alone. The premiere was at Carnegie Hall, on March 6 1933, conducted by Nicolas Slonimsky, to whom the piece was later dedicated. One critic described the performance as "a sock in the jaw."

The instrumentarium is the following:

3 Bass Drums, 2 Side Drums, 2 Snare Drums, Tarole, 2 Bongos, Tambourine, Tambour militaire, crash cymbal, suspended cymbals, 3 tam-tams, gong, 2 anvils, 2 triangles, sleigh bells, chimes, celesta, piano, Chinese blocks, claves, maracas, castanets, whip (instrument), guiro, high & low sirens, and a lion's roar.

Ionisation features the expansion and variation of rhythmic cells, and the title refers to the ionization of molecules. As the composer later described, "I was not influenced by composers as much as by natural objects and physical phenomena." (Schuller 1965, p.34) Varèse also acknowledged the influence of the Italian Futurist artists Luigi Russolo and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in the composition of this work.

Both Chou Wen-Chung and Jean-Charles François have analysed the structure and timbre features of Ionisation in detail. András Wilheim has noted that only the last 17 measures of Ionisation include musical tones of the "traditional tonal system", where five successive chords contain the 12 tones of the chromatic scale.

Frank Zappa often claimed that Ionisation inspired him to pursue a career in music. Jack Skurnick, director of EMS Recordings, was the first to produce recordings of Varèse. This piece appears on the first Varèse recording, EMS 401. Sidney Finkelstein wrote in the liner notes about the work:

(Ionisation) "is built on a most sensitive handling and contrast of different kinds of percussive sounds. There are those indefinite in pitch, like the bass drum, snare drum, wood blocks, and cymbals; those of relatively definite musical pitch, such as the piano and chimes; those of continually moving pitch, like the sirens and 'lion's roar.' It is an example of 'spatial construction,' building up to a great complexity of interlocking 'planes' of rhythm and timbre, and then relaxing the tension with the slowing of rhythm, the entrance of the chimes, and the enlargement of the 'silences' between sounds. There are suggestions of the characteristic sounds of modern city life."

References

External links

• Stereophile magazine names the best recordings, including "EDGARD VARÈSE: The Varèse Record Ionisation, Density 21.5, Interpolations from Déserts, Octandre, Intégrales"
• Article from Stereo Review by Frank Zappa about Ionisation.
• Video of performance